Appliance for conditioning a milk-based liquid

Abstract

An appliance for conditioning a liquid made of or based on milk, in particular for preparing heated liquid or a cold or heated frothed liquid. The appliance includes a tank for receiving the liquid that is to be conditioned; a closed compartment secured to the tank; and an electric device located therein for imparting a conditioning effect to the liquid. The compartment is made water impervious and washable under running water without infiltration thereof into the compartment containing the electric device.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A milk or milk-based liquid conditioning appliance for preparation of a beverage, which comprises:
 a tank for receiving the milk or milk-based liquid that is to be conditioned; 
 a closed compartment secured to the tank, wherein the compartment is water impervious and washable under running water without infiltration thereof into the compartment; and 
 an electric device for imparting a conditioning effect to the liquid, with the device located in the compartment and below the tank, 
 wherein the compartment includes a sidewall and is assembled to be water impervious so that the appliance can be washed without allowing water to contact the electrical device in the compartment; 
 wherein the electric device has at least one connection means extending through a first through-opening in an outer wall of the compartment, wherein each through-opening is water impervious by association with a sealing element located between a peripheral part of the connection means and the sidewall; and 
 wherein the first through-opening is delimited by a surface of the sidewall that has a first portion that extends into the compartment and a second portion extending away at an angle from the first portion and having inward and outward facing surfaces to form a recessed shoulder, with the sealing element engaging at least the outward facing surface of the second portion at least part of the first portion to prevent contact of liquid with the second portion of the recessed shoulder and with the sealing element extending around the entire peripheral part of the connection means. 
 
     
     
       2. The appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the sealing element is deformable and compressed by and between the peripheral part of the connection means and the delimitation surface of the corresponding through-opening. 
     
     
       3. The appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the sealing element is made of plastic or elastic material that is cast between a peripheral part of the connection means and the sidewall. 
     
     
       4. The appliance of  claim 1 , wherein at least one connection means comprises an electric conductor rod or cable for supplying electric power from a power supply to the electric device or for communicating a signal to or from the electric device. 
     
     
       5. The appliance of  claim 4 , wherein the electrical conductor is a copper or aluminum based conductor. 
     
     
       6. The appliance of  claim 1 , wherein at least one connection means comprises or leads to a user interface for controlling the electric device, the user interface comprising a button and extending into the first through-opening. 
     
     
       7. The appliance of  claim 6 , wherein the button comprises a rigid support element, which has a peripheral surface that faces the surface of the sidewall delimiting the first through-opening, with the sealing element being compressed around the entire peripheral surface between and by the peripheral surface and the delimitation surface, and with the sealing element optionally being integral with or bonded to the button. 
     
     
       8. The appliance of  claim 6 , wherein the button comprises a movable member that extends through the first through-opening, the sealing element being located around the movable member, the movable member being arranged to communicate into the compartment a user command by displacement of the movable member in translation along the first through-opening or in rotation about a rotational axis extending through the first trough-opening or parallel thereto, the button being further in the form of a push button or rotational button. 
     
     
       9. The appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the compartment is formed by the assembly of at least two casing parts, the casing parts being so assembled to be water impervious, with at least one casing part formed by or with at least part of the tank, and with the other casing part formed by the sidewall of the compartment, with the sidewall terminating in an upper opening for receiving a lower portion of the tank therein, and wherein two of the casing parts have connection portions that are made of thermoplastic material that are joined by ultrasonic welds or that are made of metal-based materials that are welded together, with the connection portion welds located near the upper opening of the compartment sidewall. 
     
     
       10. The appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the compartment is formed by the assembly of at least two casing parts, the casing parts being so assembled to be water impervious, with at least one casing part formed by or with at least part of the tank, and with the other casing part formed by the sidewall of the compartment, with the sidewall terminating in an upper opening for receiving a lower portion of the tank therein, and wherein the casing parts are assembled via a sealing element that seals off the compartment between the upper opening of the compartment sidewall and the tank that is received therein, and wherein the sealing element is elastic or plastic and is compressed between the compartment sidewall and tank. 
     
     
       11. The appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the compartment is formed by the assembly of at least two casing parts, the casing parts being so assembled to be water impervious, with at least one casing part formed by or with at least part of the tank, and with the other casing part formed by the sidewall of the compartment, with the sidewall terminating in an upper opening for receiving a lower portion of the tank therein, and wherein the casing parts are assembled via connection portions and a sealing element comprising a body that extends over the surface of one connection portion and that is placed thereagainst; and a plurality of transverse members that protrude from the body to the surface of the facing connection portion and that are compressed between the body and the surface of the facing connection portion. 
     
     
       12. The appliance of  claim 11 , which further comprises a rigid support member secured to the connection portion of one of the casing parts to hold the cooperating connection portion of another casing part, with the cooperating connection portion being urged against the rigid support member by the compressed sealing element located between the cooperating connection portions. 
     
     
       13. The appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the compartment is formed by the assembly of at least two casing parts, the casing parts being so assembled to be water impervious, with at least one casing part formed by or with at least part of the tank, and with the other casing part formed by the sidewall of the compartment, with the sidewall terminating in an upper opening for receiving a lower portion of the tank therein, and wherein a first casing part is mechanically or further secured to or against a second casing part by a mechanical assembly member that extends through a through-opening in the first casing part, the through-opening being made water impervious by a sealing element located between a peripheral part of the mechanical assembly member and the first casing part. 
     
     
       14. The appliance of  claim 13 , wherein the through-opening is delimited by a surface of the first casing part, the delimitation surface having a periphery, the sealing element being located in-between the peripheral part of the mechanical assembly member and the delimitation surface and extending along the entire periphery of the delimitation surface around the mechanical assembly member, the sealing element being present between the peripheral part of the mechanical assembly member and the delimitation surface. 
     
     
       15. The appliance of  claim 1 , which further comprises a stirrer positioned in the tank for agitating the milk-based liquid, wherein the electrical device comprises:
 drive means for imparting a rotational movement to the stirrer; and 
 heating means for heating the tank; 
 wherein the drive means is operable independently from the heating means. 
 
     
     
       16. An appliance for conditioning a liquid made of or based on milk, which comprises:
 a tank for receiving a milk-based liquid that is to be conditioned; 
 a rotatable stirrer positioned in the tank for agitating the milk-based liquid and generating a froth in the tank, the stirrer including a top part that allows a user to grasp and remove the stirrer from the tank; 
 a closed compartment secured to the tank, wherein the compartment is water impervious and washable under running water without infiltration thereof into the compartment; and 
 an electric device for imparting a conditioning effect to the liquid, with the device located in the compartment and below the tank, 
 wherein the electric device comprises heating means for heating the tank and drive means for imparting a rotational movement to the stirrer located in the tank, with the drive means operable independently from the heating means. 
 
     
     
       17. The appliance of  claim 16 , which further comprises a stirrer positioning element in the tank, wherein the electric device in the compartment independently drives the stirrer in the tank by generating a rotating magnetic field in the compartment that drives the stirrer in the tank without any mechanical transmission element extending through the tank between the electric device and the stirrer, and wherein the stirrer is removably mounted on the stirrer positioning element in the tank. 
     
     
       18. The appliance of  claim 17 , wherein the rotatable stirrer comprises:
 a positioning bottom part that is arranged to be removably mounted on the positioning element of the tank; 
 a peripheral part having stirring elements comprising turns of toroidally-shaped wire, impellers, blades, gratings or needles, and 
 a top part extending generally upright from the peripheral part, the top part having a holding portion that is arranged to accommodate for human fingers so as to facilitate extraction and insertion of the stirrer on the positioning element of the tank. 
 
     
     
       19. The appliance of  claim 18 , wherein the top part of the rotatable stirrer is generally in the shape of an arched member that forms an upright loop, optionally the loop forming generally a circle or a fraction of a circle extending upwards from adjacent opposite sides of the peripheral part. 
     
     
       20. The appliance of  claim 18 , wherein the top part of the rotatable stirrer forms a loop further comprises an elongated upright member extending upwards from an upper end of the loop, the upright member being optionally topped with an laterally protruding element to facilitate seizure by human fingers. 
     
     
       21. The appliance of  claim 17 , which further comprises a user interface associated with the electrical device, the interface being arranged to also allow joint control of the drive means and heating means. 
     
     
       22. The appliance of  claim 21 , wherein the user interface comprises a first button for controlling the drive means and a second button for controlling the heating means, or a single button with different positions for simultaneously controlling the drive means and the heating means. 
     
     
       23. An appliance for conditioning a liquid made of or based on milk, which comprises:
 a tank for receiving a milk-based liquid that is to be conditioned; 
 a rotatable stirrer positioned in the tank for agitating the milk-based liquid and generating a froth in the tank, the stirrer including a top part that allows a user to grasp and remove the stirrer from the tank; 
 a closed compartment secured to the tank, wherein the compartment is water impervious and washable under running water without infiltration thereof into the compartment; and 
 an electric device for imparting a conditioning effect to the liquid, with the device located in the compartment and below the tank, 
 wherein the compartment is formed by the assembly of at least two casing parts, the casing parts being so assembled to be water impervious, with at least one casing part formed by or with at least part of the tank, the compartment having a sidewall terminating in an upper opening for receiving a lower portion of the tank therein; and 
 wherein the electric device comprises heating means for heating the tank and drive means for imparting a rotational movement to the stirrer located in the tank, with the heating means and drive means operable independently from one another.